Study of the variation of haloacetic acids in a simulated water distribution network

This paper presents the analysis of the variation of haloacetic acids (HAAs) for different pipe materials in a distribution system. The work involved an experimental study on a simulated distribution system assembled in the Hydraulic Laboratory of the Engineering Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Instituto de Ingenieria UNAM). Two different scenarios were investigated based on different pipe materials, variation of temperature and initial chlorine concentrations (4.0 and 4.5 mg/L). Feed water with varying amounts of organic content was dosed with varying amounts of chlorine concentration. Water samples were collected from different locations in the distribution system and analyzed for physicochemical properties and HAAs determination. The results of this research demonstrated that the concentration of HAAs in the different segments of the distribution systems varied depending on pipe material, initial chlorine concentration, pH, residence time and the presence of natural organic matter.